Nicaragua...or BUST!!!

Well, after some hard traveling, we have slowed down a bit! We have been at my cousin Mike's place in El Sargento, Baja California Sur for the past week, making preparations for our departure, messing around and just enjoying the beauty here. Although we have done little more than make repairs to the truck and camper, we have had some fun nonetheless.

Yesterday we hit a surf spot on the west coast, about 1 1/2 hours from La Paz for the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't check the surf report, so we didn't know that the wind was blowing onshore at about 20 knots, which made the surf a bit disorganized. Most probably wouldn't have bothered with it, but we decided to take our licks and see about getting a few waves. Indeed...we took our licks. Both of us got heavily rolled a few times, but we persisted until we had had a thorough ass kicking and retired back to La Paz with our tails between our legs! Fun and a good experience despite the pounding.

McKenzie got pretty motivated to follow me out in the ocean late in the session, so I decided that she could have her second chance at surfing on my board. She jumped right on in waste deep water, dug her nails into my wax (and board), and actually caught her first whitewater! It was AWESOME. She road it until she hit the beach, and then hopped off in triumph, returning for another! I think she has a future in surfing. Truth be known, I think that she has more natural skills than I do, but don't tell her that, as she might get a big head!

We are here until Sunday, and then we will be taking the ferry across the Sea of Cortez to Topolobampo. Hussion and Bogardus are going to be in Mazatlan when we get there, so we will have to ruin the first part of their vacation properly (at least for their wives) and stay for a couple of days to corrupt them (not that they need any corrupting...at all).

Finally into la paz. All i can tell y'all is that the last few days have been trying. so we left ensenada headed south. Military check points have turned out to be quite simple, with only half assed checks for drugs. We hit a couple of awesome beaches with great surf. The skills are starting to come around. I have also had some of the best tacos in the world. But thats just a side note. So, lets see, sleeping on the beach, meeting cool people and surfing. Thats been the bulk of it. But then life is never that easy right?
So day before yesterday, Thursday i think, we drove as the highway goes from the west coast to the east coast of Baja. This also crossed us into another state, Baja California Sur. Once to the Sea of Cortez side where there is no surf, in fact it was glass and i thought that we needed a wakeboard boat, we decided to cut off the beaten path. Looking at the map there was a lesser traveled road that cut directly back to the pacific and the little village of Las Barrancas where there was supposed to be a reef break. 35 miles or so of dirt road is what the map called for. So we went for it. All i can really say is that is no road. We put the truck and camper through hell. In fact there is repair work to do. This "road" was a trail through river beds and over mountains where cliffs were sheer. 3 hours later we reached the other side. And as night fell we took the easiest camp we could find. Unfortunately as dawn broke we realized just how disgusting this section of beach really was. We managed to look past the beach at the reef break off shore. Suiting up we decided to paddle out to it, no easy task as i would guess it 250 meters or more out from shore. Once there we had a great surf, the first reef break of the trip, which is a bit scary but we escaped in good condition.
So after the prior days travel issues we hoped to put that in the rear view and travel on south to Los Conejos, the next surf spot. This beautiful secluded beach had clean sand and even a light house on the point. We had gotten there in good time thus planned for an evening surf but nooooo. As we pulled in looking at the surf and for a camp spot we ended up down on the beach. Once in the sand we (actually Nick's decision) just followed the tracks ahead. Bad idea. Soon enough we were stuck and stuck good. 2 hours later, as the sun was falling into the ocean we got moving. All the way up onto some brushy ground cover, we made it. Now to a camp spot we got on the nearest road, not 100 meters in the sand got real deep and bam! We were stuck again. This time it was for good. That is where we camped for the night. We awoke this morning to sun, bigger surf than we had seen thus far and a stuck truck. We spent the early part of the day getting out again, which went fairly smooth and then aimed our attention to the waves.
Again, i am no surfer. These waves were big. After plenty of procrastinating i made my way to the water. Scared. I mean skurd. Paddling out i made it beyond the break and was able to rest. In fact that is about all i did today. I made a few feeble attempt to catch a wave here and there, but mostly i just worked on not getting pummeled. Eventually i was ready to come in and call it a session end. As i came in a nice big set came in and i ducked and covered through a few good sized breakers. Heart rate up but safely ashore, that was the end of my surf day.
So we packed and drove for La Paz, which is back on the eastern side. Nick's cousin resides just outside La Paz so this is a nice resting place before we jump the ferry for the mainland of Mex. We should be here a few days making repairs and relaxing. The next leg of the trip takes us down the Mexican coast through such favorites as Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Zihuatanejo. Oh, and then to the biggest city in the world, Mexico City.

We have most our health, some money and a little sanity, we should be okay.

Much love.

Justin

McKenzie is doing really well. Dogs traveling down here are pretty common, we have found. She has made some good friends, but of course has had to leave them behind. She is loving it for sure. She had her first ocean experiences, and even after a proper ass kicking by some good sized waves, she doesn't hesitate to get right back in there and take her licks.

Today was pretty funny. She has some friends down here at Mike's place, and the three of them were rounding up a stray herd of cows that decided to walk by. She was definitely the most aggressive of the three...surprisingly. She has a very deep growl and bark that you wouldn't expect. She is really coming into her own. I am promoting a certain degree of barking and growling to encourage her to do so if anyone approaches the truck/camper.

Well, we made it across the border, and now we are in Ensenada to sort out some documents for the rest of the journey. We spent a couple of nights chilling out in La Fonda, which is about 45 minutes from the border. Of course, it was still pretty gringo there, but we met some cool cats that hooked us up with some spots that we plan to hit from here. The surfing was pretty good at La Fonda, but we only had one session over the course of two days. More today!

Well, I have nearly completed all of the preparations for the adventure. There have been a few stumbling blocks, but with any luck, they will clear before we are set to leave in a couple of days.

Lyme's disease! Yeah...I got bit by a nasty tick the other day, and there is a chance that I have Lyme's. I really doubt it, as there are only 15 cases reported each year in Oregon, but to be on the safe side, I think that I will head to the doctor and see about a round of antibiotics to kill the little bacteria buggers off! We'll see. I have resisted the trip to the doc thus far, and may stand my ground over the next three days. In order to appease my mother, I will probably head to the doc and get the meds to ENSURE my health. The bitch of it is that I will have to stay off the sauce until I have finished my course of anti's...that means no beers as I cross the border, and probably no beers in Mexico all together...what a bummer!

The camper has really come together. I spent a few hours dealing with some wiring issues, and I think that I found the perfect combination. I branched off a wire that was feeding the trailer setup and now have a wire that will charge the auxilary battery that feed the camper. I also took the time to have the camper battery tested, and found that it was a bit below par. This caused a purchase of a battery, but I got a real horse to handle the trip. That means that I should be able to run the fridge off the battery when we are driving, rather than having to run the propane when on the road. I feel a bit more confident about this situation. As much as I can keep the propane shut off while in motion, the better...I have seen too many burned up campers and trailers going up the Siskiyou Pass to really have a whole lot of confidence in the systems. All I have to remember is to switch to propane when we stop, and remember to disconnect the leads from the truck to the camper battery to avoid draining the truck battery, leaving me with no starting power.

What else...I am heading to Bend tomorrow to get McKenzie all taken care of at the vet. She will be receiving more innoculations than she will know what to do with. DHLPP, which is a cocktail of everything that could possibly live within a dog, rabies, flea and tick meds, heartworm meds, and a bunch more stuff that I am forgetting...poor liittle girl. Directly afterwords, I have to head over to Salem to have her health certificate authorized. Finally, I have to blaze down to San Francisco the next day to have those same health certs "verified" by the Honduran and Guatemalan consulates. All this within 72 hours of leaving the country, as Mexico requires that you get accross the border within that time of the vet authorizing the health of the animal...details, details, details!

All things considered, though, I feel very ready for the adventure. Justin seems to be rearin' and ready to go, and finally has all his docs, so barring any serious mishapps, we should be accross the border, enjoying the sites and sounds of TJ sometime early evening on Friday! Yee Haw!